Friday, August 14, 2009

Wandering the charming Passages of Paris

Today I began to explore the covered passages of Paris. I travelled to the Bourse Metro stop and walked a couple blocks to the entrance of Passage Panoramas.In case you do the same trip, I admit the picture above is from the exit where it joins Passage Jouffroy, as I forgot to take a pic upon entering.... I was so excited to arrive!!

This fellow greeted me as I entered Passage Panoramas, the oldest of the existing passages....

My first glimpse inside, oh my!

Here is a bit of information from the cover of "The Covered Passages of Paris" by Guy Lambert: "An innovative architectural type in the 19th century, the covered passage was the result of a perfect correlation between the concept of the city, the rise of the luxury goods trade and a new type of social life. Multi-purpose, it was intended as much for circulation as for all manners of amusement. Among the forty-odd passages which enhanced the French capital from the late 18th to the mid-19th century, only seventeen still fulfill their initial function."

Here is a bit more context from Lambert's book: "Unlike the more monumental passages built later in other European countries, the Parisian covered passages are systematically residential. Entrance halls for the apartment occupants or the tradespeople who lived over their shops, they were, and still are, private and protected property; the opening and closing of their gates regulates their life."

This is the shop I bought a few treasures in, including the aforementioned book. Everything in this shop is hand made, and the selection includes many items that are made from leather scraps from factories (including the cute little orange leather wallet/purse thing I bought).

You can buy a genuine stamp from the year 1900 for 1700E....

Beautiful vistas throughout, with the natural light streaming in... lovely even on a rainy day, I imagine....

Lots of little cafes....

As many locals as tourists... in fact, probably more locals than tourists....Then I crossed the street to the next one: Passage Jouffroy:

This candy shop practically lit up the whole area with it's yellow cheeriness and spectacularly artistic displays... (I resisted temptation to go in)....

This shop brings to mind a passage (pun not intended!) from Lambert's book that jumped out at me: "(Walter) Benjamin provided, in "Arcades" (1927-1929), one of the finest literary images of the telescopic awsthetics of which the passage is sometimes the theatre, "In the arcades, one comes upon types of collar studs for which we no longer know the corresponding collars and shirts. If a shoemaker's shop should be neighbor to a confectioner's, then his festoons of bootlaces will resemble rolls of licorice. Over stamps and letterboxes roll balls of string and of silk [...] and lying in the fixative pans from a photographer's darkroom is birdseed." It paints quite the picture, doesn't it?

Several old hotels face both a passage and the outside street....

A wee fresco painting advertising the wax museum....

This was a cool pic, using an adjacent store window's reflection... There are tons and tons of books, including quite a few English art books.....

Cool clock.... still going strong....

Cool light fixture....

Then I crossed the street to my final passage of the day, Passazge Verdeau:

This was beautiful, but not very busy. Being August, many shops are closed, and it seems in this passage that this was the trend throughout...

A few other pics, from the three passages I visited today....

There are some neat old tiles....

Neat riding horse....

Busted!!! Got caught taking pictures of a movie shoot... oops!!!

I honestly did not see this sign when I first went in!! LOL.

All in all, it was a fun day exploring the passages, and I expect I'll explore more....

7 comments:

Great post! About the yellow candy store in Passage Jouffroy, you should have tried it :) I did while in Madrid. There is the same store (located close to Plaza Mayor), I recognized the interior on your picture. Thanks for sharing your experience in the Passages.

Greetings from a former BC resident who lives in France!A quick albeit belated comment...It appears you were delighted with your two visits to Paris, January is a bit cool though. Ever heard of Paris syndrome? It regularly affects the unsuspecting Japanese,clearly you were not. Great Blog, came across it by accident while feeling homesick for BC. HEY.. We may have gone to the same school in Valleyview a few decades ago.Will check back in the near future.Kind regards,VP

Hey VP,My last name in Valleyview was Kemp. I am busy guessing who you might be (fun!) and being jealous of you living in France :-)You can find me on Facebook or drop me an emailr_w_caatyahoodotcaHope to hear from u! Roberta

Hey VP,My last name in Valleyview was Kemp. I am busy guessing who you might be (fun!) and being jealous of you living in France :-)You can find me on Facebook or drop me an emailr_w_caatyahoodotcaHope to hear from u! Roberta